TAGBILARAN CITY— Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap has filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for the same post on Tuesday, October 4.
Accompanying him at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial office were his wife, Carolyne Varquez Gow-Yap, his son Austin Cole, and other aspirants in his “Padayon Bol-anon” team.
Yap is seeking re-election under the PDP-Laban Cusi faction.
“I hope I will still be given the opportunity to continue our programs, especially against COVID-19 to help our people affected by the pandemic. We have to beat this crisis and we have to recover,” he said.
“Our priority now is to protect our province. We have to stabilize our infection number. We will pay close attention to agricultural, fisheries and water programs because these will help the food security of our people,” Yap said.
Yap’s running mate in the May 2022 polls is Vice Governor Rene Relampagos who is also seeking reelection.
Yap became agriculture secretary from 2004 to 2005 and from 2006 to 2007. He became representative of the third district of Bohol from 2010 to 2019.
In the 2019 elections, he won against former Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, becoming Bohol’s 26th governor.